Chapter 25
The smell of coffee woke Forrest. Jordana was sound asleep in his arms. Kenzie was gone and Gavin was examining Pedro. Pedro was watching Forrest as he held Jordana.
“How are you feeling, Pedro?” Forrest whispered.
“Fantastic, besides the pain in my gut. But I hope the surgery I’ll have today will fix that.”
“As soon as you’re healed, you’ll have to come over and meet your grandgoat,” Forrest joked.
“You have a goat?” Pedro asked, clearly amused.
“Your daughter wasn’t the only thing I rescued from Brazil. I also brought Blackbeard home.”
“Don’t make me laugh, son. It hurts too much. But I can’t wait to hear this story.”
So, Forrest told him the story of Blackbeard, the goat, and the pirate. A soft knock on the door had Agent Spivey opening the door to Suze, who carried in a tray.
“I made you homemade broth, Pedro. Gavin said you can have it now, but that’s all you’re allowed today since you’re having surgery later,” Suze told him, setting it down on his bed.
“Move out of the way, sonny boy.”
Forrest turned to the door to find Agent Spivey blocking Miss Winnie and Miss Ruby.
“I need to check what’s in the basket, ma’am,” Spivey said to Miss Ruby.
She smacked his hand and shook her head. “No man gets my pie without getting naked. You ready to get naked, son?”
“I mean,” Miss Winnie put in, giving Agent Spivey a once-over. “He’s good-lookin’ enough for one of our nude shoots. He might even need two pies to cover what he’s packing.”
Forrest didn’t need to see the agent’s face to know he was beet red. Suze was snickering, but Pedro was looking both shocked, amused, and confused. “Am I still unconscious?” he asked Gavin, who just laughed.
Jordana snuggled deeper into his chest. “Do I smell apples and cinnamon?” she murmured.
“You sure do,” Miss Ruby answered, causing Jordana to snap up and blink.
“Dad! You look great.” Jordana scrambled from Forrest’s lap and hugged her father before taking a deep breath and groaning. “What is that smell? It smells delicious.”
“Agent Spivey, they’re not going to murder Pedro with pie. We can all vouch for them,” Forrest told the agent.
“But how did they know Mr. Alves was here?”
“Easy,” Miss Winnie said. “Mr. Gann told Mr. Knoll, who had heard it from Turtle, who had heard it from Skeeter, who had heard it from Gator, who had heard it from Lydia that Kenzie had gotten supplies from the office before rushing here. Then when we went to Forrest’s this morning, he wasn’t there.
We figured it had something to do with Kenzie’s errand and we were worried Jordana was hurt.
So, we asked Ryker. We gave him a bite of pie and he told us everything. ”
“He folded just for a bite of pie?” Agent Spivey asked.
“Kenzie was harder. It took two bites of it for her to fold,” Miss Ruby informed the agent. “Now, we brought everyone pie and a breakfast casserole. There’s even enough for you, agent.”
“Do I have to get naked for the pie?” Gavin asked as he kicked off his shoes.
“Why would you get naked for a pie?” Pedro asked, still obviously thinking he was hallucinating.
“Try a bite and tell me you wouldn’t strip for one,” Gavin answered. “But only one bite!”
“You really should be sticking to your broth,” Suze told Pedro. “Don’t worry, I’ll eat your slice so nothing goes to waste.”
The two older women entered the room along with Agent Spivey. They set down a basket and pulled out China plates, fabric napkins, silverware, a casserole, and two pies. Everyone ate a bite of pie first. A collective groan echoed through the room.
“Yeah, I’d get naked for a pie,” Spivey told them before taking his next bite.
“Will you marry me?” Pedro asked.
“Which one of us?” Miss Winnie replied.
“Either. Both. Doesn’t matter as long as this pie comes with the marriage.” Pedro took another bite, closed his eyes, and savored it before Gavin yanked the plate away. “I think I can die happy now.”
“Dad!” Jordana chided, but then moaned over her next bite.
After dessert, came the casserole. Pedro passed on that and focused on drinking his broth. By the time Miss Winnie and Miss Ruby left, they had a new grandson, Agent Spivey, a proposal, and several people willing to get naked for the pies.
Forrest spent the day with Jordana and her father.
His blood work was strong enough to have the surgery, which was planned for five in the morning.
Jen was working the night shift and so was Doug, the EMT they both swore by.
Jen was stocking the OR with the list from Rowan throughout her twelve-hour shift.
Gavin and Kenzie both took naps as the day turned to night. Rowan was going to meet them at the hospital. The hardest part was everyone insisting Jordana and Forrest needed to stay at home.
The ambulance came at four. The lights were off as Gavin and Kenzie helped Doug load Jordana’s father. Forrest held Jordana tight as they stood watching the taillights disappear down the drive.
“Come on. Let’s get home, get a shower, and rest. They’ll keep us updated.” Forrest ushered Jordana home as they prepared for another sleepless night.
Forrest’s phone rang at six in the morning. He was expecting it to be Rowan, but it was Ryker. “Ryker? What are you doing up this early?”
Jordana muted the movie they’d been watching and turned to watch him speak to his friend.
“Early? I’ve been up for two hours. I need to send you some photos. My sources caught these men loading illegal lumber onto the cargo boat next to mine in Brazil. I’m wondering if they’re the men who held Jordana. One of them was heard talking about Rei da Floresta.”
Forrest’s phone pinged and he pulled it away from his ear to open the photos. “Jordana, do you recognize any of these men?”
Jordana leaned over and started swiping. Then she stopped suddenly and went rigid. “Him. He was the boss. I never knew his name, but he was the one in power. They all called him Boss.”
“Number four,” Forrest told Ryker.
“Recognize anyone else?” Ryker asked.
Jordana began to flip and stopped on number six, the last picture. “The last one. He pretended to be our security and then killed my friends and kidnapped me. He said his name was Gustavo.”
“Good. I’ll share with the team and keep you updated.”
“Thank you, Ryker,” Jordana told him before he hung up.
“It finally feels as if we’re getting closer to the identity of the man behind this,” Forrest said, leaning back on the couch and pulling Jordana to his side.
“I still don’t know how they knew about our trips to the . This took planning to become our security and I didn’t find out I was going until the last minute,” Jordana explained.
“Maybe they found out about mine later? Why would they let me stay a full month and not come after me to start with?” Forrest wondered.
“Could they have been waiting to see if your invention worked?” Jordana asked after a pause.
“I hadn’t thought of that. It very well could be. But again, who would know we were there?”
Jordana frowned and he could see her mind working. “My father’s office would know. We have to get approval from his office to do scientific studies in the .”
“Your dad signed off on these? I would have remembered his name.”
Jordana shook her head. “There’s a whole department that handles the approval process. My father is that department head’s boss. He doesn’t see individual applications unless he asks for them.”
“Does this mean it’s someone in that department?” Forrest asked.
“I wish, but anyone in my dad’s whole office, which has multiple departments, has access to those files. They’re all electronic. But, we do know for sure that it’s someone in that office.”
Forrest sent a text to the group updating them.
In return he got a message from Hunter that Sutton Ramsey said there’d been an incident, but she didn’t know what to make of it.
There had been a flower delivery to her father in New York.
There had been no card, just his name for the flowers to be delivered to.
There had been no threat made, just a candy striper delivering the flowers.
Forrest told Jordana, who similarly didn’t know what to make of it.
But then his phone rang, only this time it was Kenzie.
“It’s about your dad,” Forrest answered on speaker.
“How’s my dad?” Jordana instantly asked.
“Gavin is sewing him up now. Rowan got called away on another emergency, but was able to finish the surgery. It was a success,” Kenzie told them.
“There was something strange though. Not only was it just a sloppy surgery, but not even near the surgical site, there had been a puncture in the small intestine.”
Jordana frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Everyone agrees. During his first surgery, someone purposefully put a small puncture in his intestines, which is what led to the sepsis. The surgical site was messy, but would pass inspection. Now, the puncture? We think someone did it while they were closing him up. They’d have fewer eyes on them and could easily get away with it. ”
“The person who tried to kill him failed, and then tried again in the operating room?”
“That’s our theory. Now, they could be two different people. You could have the shooter and a nurse or doctor. We also don’t know if they did it because they’re the bad person, or if the bad people were blackmailing them,” Kenzie pointed out.
“We need a list of everyone in that operating room,” Forrest said.
“Now, how to get that?” Jordana wondered out loud.
“We’ll all think on it. We’ll be finished here in twenty minutes and will then be on our way back. Should be at the Bells’ in an hour,” Kenzie told them.
Forrest hung up and Kenzie was already jumping up.
“I must cook him something. It’s what my mom cooked us every time we were sick.” Jordana said, pulling open the cabinets. “You don’t have what I need.”
Her voice faltered and Forrest wanted to give her the world. There was a small market in Shadows Landing, but most people went into Charleston to grab groceries. “What do you need?”
Jordana rattled off a list and Forrest called the only people he could think of who’d have all of that on hand or know how to get it.
Twenty minutes later the doorbell rang.
“Thank you for coming,” Forrest said, reaching out and grabbing the bags from Miss Ruby, Miss Winnie, and Miss Mitzi.
“Of course. Where’s our dear girl?” Miss Winnie asked as she pushed by him.
Jordana came out of the bedroom and looked at them with surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“We here’s to help you make . . . what did you call it?” Miss Ruby asked. “Because by the ingredients it looks like chicken and rice soup.”
Jordana gasped. “You found the ingredients for my mother’s canja gorda?”
“I guess so,” Miss Mitzi said, pulling out rice, carrots, celery, and potatoes.
“We got the chicken stock from Earl Taylor at Lowcountry Smokehouse and the whole chicken from Darius Foster at The Pink Pig,” Miss Winnie told her as they set out the remaining ingredients. “Now, what do we do?”
Jordana rattled off a recipe and the women just nodded. Knives were chopping, pots were boiling, and soon his whole house smelled like delicious chicken soup.
“We need to let it simmer for another two hours,” Jordana said as she took off her apron.
“Leave it with us. We can bring it by,” Miss Winnie told her.
“You don’t have to do that. We’ll run into town and get some bread to dip and then pick it up on the way back after I get my dad settled. The little store will have some fresh bread, won’t it?” Jordana asked.
“Go to the diner for that. They make their own bread,” Miss Mitzi told her.
“Great. Thank you, ladies, so much.” Jordana went and hugged all of them before turning with bright eyes to Forrest. “Can we go now so I can be there when my dad arrives?”
“Of course.” Forrest leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss before heading to the car. Didn’t she know he’d do anything for her?